So… Spring is in the air, the dogs have marked the change of season by releasing tumbleweeds of fur in all corners of the house, and my pants are a wee bit tighter than they were in October indicating that weight loss might be in order. I appear to have put on a few pounds (10 or 11, but who’s counting?)

There is a saying that goes, “If your dog is overweight, you’re not getting enough exercise” Click To Tweet

Conversely, if you’ve put on a few pounds during hibernation season, it’s safe to say that your pups might not have gotten all the walks they might have needed this past winter. Just sayin’.

I get it… cold, wet winter days are not exactly walk-inspiring and while I tried to exercise Simon, Zora and Piper’s minds with special training sessions, treat hunts and other distractions on the really bad days, nothing is a real substitute for regular daily exercise.

I’m fortunate to live in beautiful, sunny Colorado. We get an average of 330 days of sunshine every year so I have a very few excuses for not getting everyone outside most days…

Not including the day I started writing this post. This is what was happening outside my kitchen window… so, you can see how a walk was NOT happening that day 😉

Walk the Dog!

My greatest challenge is that I have never been able to walk my dogs together at the same time. (And, perhaps my comfort food choices of cheese popcorn and chocolate mousse were ill advised but that’s for another post) Zora is fine on leash and easy to walk, though admittedly, I have allowed her a little too much leeway in her senior years as she is now pulling a bit more than she used to. At almost 13, she prefers the leisurely stroll but has become a bit stubborn when it comes to getting where she wants to go or stopping to smell something (everything!). Simon, who is nine, has always SUCKED on leash. We’ve worked for years on leash manners and things have definitely improved but his leash reactivity with other dogs has meant that he really needs all of my attention on walks. And, then there is Piper. Still a puppy at 17 months, she’s got some learning to do and if I try to walk Simon or Zora at the same time, Piper becomes a bit of a whirling dervish on the end of the leash. 

Walking three dogs separately at least twice a day is rather time consuming (or, it would be if I was actually doing it) and, admittedly, I let the winter weather derail many a walk and, honestly,  I have been in a bit of denial about my true role in how my dogs behave on leash (so much more to come on this in future posts) so I have recommitted myself to the daily walks and Simon and I just finished a leash reactivity class at Longmont Humane Society. Unfortunately, Miss Piper is sporting a leg brace while healing an injury, so we can only do short walking sessions for the next six weeks.

Yesterday, I got to learn and practice some necessary skills needed to emulate my hero, Angela Adan  from Deserving Dogs and I actually walked all three of my dogs together …at the same time… Seriously, this is BIG!)

Now, I need to practice what Angela taught me!

To that end, I am launching the TOTALLY FREE Healthy Dog, Healthy You Challenge & Giveaway.

Join me on this 30 day walk the dog challenge in an effort to master the daily walk, get you and your dogs back in shape and support one another while we do it. (This is a tad bit selfish on my part because I need some accountability with this.)

Together, we can get back in shape, keep our dogs healthy, work on mastering the walk and have a ton of fun! Seriously, some incredible sponsors have signed up to sponsor the challenge! Not only will the first 10 folks to sign up receive a special prize but three lucky challenge participants will be randomly selected to receive an incredible prize package!

Check out the challenge details & giveaway!

Challenge & Giveaway Sponsors